Established in 1916, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is the longest running and number one accrediting agency for MBA programs. This “global, nonprofit membership organization,” consists of businesses, educational institutions, and “other entities devoted to the advancement of management education.”

Schools or programs that earn AACSB accreditation have completed a rigorous process to ensure that they are the best of the best. To date, less than 5 percent of the world's 13,000 business programs have earned AACSB Accreditation. Further, AACSB-accredited schools are considered to be the best business schools in the world. They have better programs, better faculty, better students with higher overall GPAs, more international students, more employers that recruit from them, and graduates that receive better salaries, says the AACSB.